Means for controlling machinery.



No. 892,616. PATENTED JULY 7,1908.

' H. A. PETERS L C. W. MORGAN.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.18, 1908.

. ment occurs; in carrying y Vwe have had 1n mind to t A UNrrnn srafrns PATENT orrron.

HENRY A. PETERS AND CHARLES W. MORGAN, OF PATERS-ON, NEWiJERSEY.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING MACHINERY.

No. eeaele.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 7, 1908.

Application led March 18, 1908. Serial No. 421,942.

lcertain new and useful lmprovementsdn Means for Controlling Machinery and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. i

Our invention relates to means whereby to control machinery with a view to stop its operation on the occurrence of circumstances which would make it dangerous or otherwise undesirable that its 'operation should continue, and it has for its object to provide a mechanism whereby the controllinr element, whether it be a valve, serving as a `throttle in the steam supply pipe of an engine or to control the air-exhaust passage of an air-brake system, etc. etc., or a switch, serving as the controller of an electric current, for instance,

either with respect to the power driving the motor or with respect to the braking mechanism of such motor, or any other simllar element, may be instantaneously shifted from one position to another, that is from normal to abnormal, and when in its normal position will be reliably and effectively retained there until'the necessityfor its Inoveout our invention, eep the mechanism as simple and inexpensive as possible, to make it compact and of comparatively small dimensions, and to make it delicately responsive to the exciting or releasing medium.

Our invention is particularly adapted for use on railways for the purpose of preventing railroad engine drivers from running past signals and it has been illustrated in that connection in the accompanying drawing 5 but it is to be understood that it is not limited to that adaptation.

The invention will be found fully illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein,

Figure l shows the essential parts of the improved mechanism in connection with a locomotive (appearing in dotted outline) and a railway g Fig. 2 a front elevation the mechanism directly affecting the controller g Fig. 3 is' a side view of what is shown in Fig. 2,

partly in section; Fig. 4is a horizontal sectional view of what isshown in Fig. 2, the plane ofthe section being substantially that of the axis of,movement of the controller; and, Fig. 5 is across section through the rails and contacts which we employ.

In the drawings, a is the conductor (as shown, being a pipe) through which the medium to be controlled (inthe present adaptation, escaping air from the air-brake system) is adapted to ii'ow, and t is the controller therefor; it will be understood that in an air 'brake system this controller is entirely separate'and distinct, as herein illustrated, from the main controller for conductor a, controller l) being what may be termed the emergency controller. Y

c is a casing which may be provided with suitable openings allowing the conductor a to penetrate it horizontally and the stem d of the controller to protrude from it laterally, thus bringing the handle portion of the controller on the outside. The controller is normally drawn from the closed (full-line) position toward the open (dotted line) posltion by a heavy spring e which connects it with a stud f arranged above it on the casing. A segment g secured against the studs h by the screws t' serves as a guide for the controller,

it being arranged to bridge the same; this full-line position shown the stud and pin will.

stand in a line a proximating a right angle to the longitudina axis of the lever; furthermore, the hook g of the pawl is turned toward the axis of movement of the controller and slightly downwardly with res ect thereto, so that when the pawl is engager with the stud of the cntroller, as shown, it will reliably hold the controller from movement under the pull of the spring. 'lhe holding action of the pawl is augmented by the fact that its straight arm is, moreover, drawn down by thescpringn.

r esignatesa lever adapted to cooperate with the pawl Z and fulcrumed on the stud s,-

this is a flat bar having its shorter arm s twisted into a plane at right angles to that of the remainder of the lever, whereby, on the movement of the lever` from the full-line to the dotted line positions, its engagement with the long arm of the pawLwill be assured. The long arm 8' ot lever yr carries an adjustable weight t, and its proper movement in a vertice l plane is preserved by the guide u secured to tbe casing in bridging relation to the lever. The normal position of the lever is the full-line position; when it is allowed to fall, as hereinafter' described, its shorter arm engages the long arm of the pawl, the resulting impact moving the pawl so that it releases the controller.

In the front wall of the casing is arranged the bushing o in wln'ch is adapted to move the pin w carrying the armature oc of the electromagnets yy arranged on the bracket z within the casing. ln its normalposition, 'the pin protrudes from the bushing and overlies the short arm of lever r, holding the 'lever in the" full-line position when the magnet is energized, the armature and pin recede, the latter allowing the lever to fall by gravity and, striking the pawl, effect the release of the controller. A resetting' lever l, pivoted in a bracket 2-inside the casing, stands approximately parallel with the front wall of the casing, its handle end 8 protruding therefrom in convenient reach of the operators hand, the other end of this lever 1 is extended through the pin lw, relatively between the magnets.

In operation, the parts being set as shown in Fig. 2, when the magnets are energized and the pin w thereby retracted, the lever r falls by gravity, its shorter end striking the pawl l and causing the latter to release the controller,

which is -then pulled up, by the spring as far as it will go it will be obvious that, from the arrangement and construction oi the parts, and vparticularly the arrangement and construction of lever r and pin w,it requires 'but the very slightest application of power to set the mechanism to operate. A very light electric current can therefore be utilized. In order to reset the apparatus, the voperator draws down on the controller with his right hand, raising pawl .Z with his thumb until it engages and holds the controller with his left hand he then raises the lever r and moves the resetting lever 1 so as to push the pin w out in position to hold the lever with its long arm elevated. The downward movement of lever r is limited by the guide u.

It will be understood that the; electric currentior operating the magnet may be derived from any suitable source and the electric circuit established in any manner suitable to the purpose for which the apparatus is used; but in the adaptatien of the mechan- :ism herein shown we preierto provide the locomotive 5, on which the cesnrg c is ar- @e convenient p e the eab,

'seaeie with the contact shoes 6, connecting the contact shoes with the two magnets by the wires 7. The contacts or contact rails 8 are arranged parallel with and close to the tracks 9, being electricallyv connected with the source of power of an electric block signal system, the semaphore 10 of which would close the circuit in so far as the fixed portion of said c1rcuit is concerned when said semaphore is moved to the danger or other Warning position. Thus, when the locomotive approaches the contacts 8 and its shoes engage therewith, if the circuit is closed by the semaphore it will now be closed throughout by the shoes 6 so that the magnets will, be energized and bring about the release of the controller in the manner already stated. In order that the engine driver may hold the circuit open, at will, under certainl conditions, as when, for instance, the engine is shifted slowly back and forth past the contacts 8, the normally closed spring-switch 11 may be arranged in pue of the wires 7 in convenient reach of his land.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination, with a conductor and the controller therefor normally adapted to move from the one tothe other of the closing and opening positions, of 'a detent engageable with said controller to restrain the same` against movement, apart normally ada ted to move the detent and cause it to-re ease the controller, and means forA normally restraining said part against actuating the detent, substantially asdescribed. 2. The combination, with a conductor and the controller therefor normally adapted to move from the one toward the other of the closing and opening positions, of a detent engageable with said controller to restrain the same against movement, a lever engage-A able with the detent to actuate the same and thereby cause it to release the controller, said lever being normally movable into engagement with the detent, and another and electrically actuated detent normally restraining said 4lever a ainst movement, substantially as describe I The combination, with a conductor and the controller therefor normally adapted to move from the one toward the other of the closing and openipg positions, of a detent engageable withnsaid controller to restrain the same against movement, a lever engageable with the detent to actuate the same and thereby cause it to release the controller, said lever being normally movable into engagement with the detent, and an electrically actuated pin movable axially from a, position across the path of movement of the lever to a position out of the same, substantially described.

e, The combination, width a conductor and the fulcrumed controller therefor normally adapted` to move from the one toward the other of the closing and opening positions, of a pivoted detent having its axis of movement parallel with that of the controller and havinglone end hooked and adapted to engage t e lever to restrain' the same against movement,` a lever also having itsaxis movement parallel with that of the contro'.- ler and enga eable with the detent to move the same an thereby cause it to release the controller, said lever being normally movable into en agement with the detent, and an electrically actuated pin also .arranged parallel with the axis of movement of the controller and movable longitudinally from a position across the path of movement of the lever to a position out of the same, .sub' stantially as described.

5. lThe combination, with a conductor and the controller therefor normally adapted to move from the one toward the other of the closing and opening positions, of a detent engageable with the controller to restrain the same a ainst movement, a part normally mova le against the detent to actuate the same, and an electrically actuated pin movable axiallyvfrom a osition across the path of movement of sai part to a position out ofthe same, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a conductor and the controller therefor normally adapted to move from the one toward'the other of the closing and o ening positions, of a detent engageable Wlth the controller to restrain the same against movement, a part normally movable against the detent to actuate the same, an electric circuit, a magnet included in said circuit, and an axiall movable pin controlled by the magnet an movable from a position across the path of movement of said art to a position out of the same, substantlally as described.

7. The combination, with a conductor and the controller therefor normally adapted to move from the one toward the other of the closing and opening positions, of a detent engageable with the controller to restrain the same against movement, a part normally movable a ainst the detent to actuate the same, an e ectric circuit, a magnet included in said circuit, an axially movable pin controlled by the magnet and movable from a position across the path of movement of said part to a position out of thc same, and a resetting lever operativciy connected with said pin, substantially as described.

In testimony, that We claim the foregoing. we have hereunto set our hands this 14th day of March, 1908.

HENRY A. PETERS. CHARLES W. MORGAN. Witnesses: 1

WM. D. BELL, JOHN W. STEWARD. 

